Meaning & use
afterbirth
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountablemedical
The placenta and the membranes around the baby, which come out of the womb shortly after the baby is born.
Grammar: Usually uncountable and singular: the afterbirth was delivered, not three afterbirths.
Patterns
- deliver the afterbirth
- expel the afterbirth
The midwife checked that the afterbirth had come away completely.
In many mammals, the mother eats the afterbirth soon after the young are born.
The afterbirth is usually delivered within half an hour of the baby.
noununcountablemedicalold-fashioned
The third stage of labor, when the placenta is expelled after the baby has been born.
Grammar: Used less often than the first sense, mostly in older or general books on childbirth.
Patterns
- the stage of afterbirth
Cramping during the afterbirth is a normal sign that the uterus is contracting.
Her nurse explained what to expect at the afterbirth stage.
Doctors watch closely for heavy bleeding after the afterbirth.
Common combinations
- deliver the afterbirth
- The doctor helped her deliver the afterbirth without complications.
- retained afterbirth
- Retained afterbirth can cause infection and needs medical care.
- expel the afterbirth
- The mare expelled the afterbirth within an hour of the foaling.
- afterbirth pains
- Afterbirth pains are often stronger after a second or third baby.
Synonyms and how they differ
- placenta
- Placenta names the organ itself and is the standard medical term, while afterbirth refers to everything expelled after the baby.
- secundines
- Secundines is a rare, old-fashioned medical word for the same expelled tissue and sounds technical.
Word family
- birth noun
- the event of a baby being born
- placenta noun
- the organ that feeds the baby in the womb
- postpartum adjective
- relating to the period after childbirth
Commonly confused: afterbirth or aftermath?
afterbirth vs aftermath
Aftermath means the situation following a disaster or event, and has nothing to do with childbirth, even though both begin with after.
Practice
After the baby is born, the midwife waits for the mother to deliver the ____.
Choose one answer.
Afterbirth is the placenta and membranes expelled once the baby is out. Aftermath is unrelated, and a clamp or fluid is not something delivered at this stage.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “afterbirth”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.